Buffalo Bisons hang on for 4-2 win over Chiefs

Jim Commentucci / The Post-StandardChiefs centerfielder Boomer Whiting is tagged out by Buffalo shortstop Andy Green as he tries to steal second base in the fifth inning of their game Friday at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse.

As is their character, the Syracuse Chiefs made things interesting in the ninth. But they dug themselves a mighty hole with shoddy defense and Buffalo starting pitcher Josh Stinson did the biggest damage with a nine-strikeout start.

The result was a 4-2 Bisons victory over the Chiefs before 6,236 at Alliance Bank Stadium on Friday night.

Syracuse rallied for two runs in the ninth with runners on first and third. Buffalo third baseman Mike Cervenak stabbed a line drive going to his left off the bat of pinch-hitter Carlos Maldonado to end the game.

Trailing 4-0, the Chiefs got a sacrifice fly from Michael Martinez and broken-bat RBI single from Chase Lambin in the ninth before reliever Michael O’Connor got Maldonado for the final out.

Stinson spent most of the season at AA Binghamton both in starting and relief roles before being called up to AAA Buffalo on Sunday.

“He did a nice job,” said Buffalo manager Ken Oberkfell. “He gave us a much needed performance tonight … after 14 innings last night. You give your bullpen a little breather and get seven innings out of your starter, that’s pretty good.”

At the same time, the Chiefs helped the Bisons along with some issues in the field.

Buffalo shortstop Andy Green led off the game with a ground ball to third. The throw was dropped by Syracuse first baseman Jason Botts for an error. Green advanced to second on a walk, was balked to third and scored on a wild pitch by starter Yuneski Maya, the Cuban import making his AAA debut.

The combination of errors – and a dropped ball by centerfielder Boomer Whiting that was ruled a single – along with a balk and wild pitch had Syracuse manager Trent Jewett a tad upset

“Had our defense been better, we wouldn’t have had to rally so much,” Jewett said. “We played poor defense. We didn’t hit many balls hard. Four of our first six hits didn’t leave the infield.”

Buffalo got two more runs in the fourth after Jewett pulled Maya with no outs and none on. Syracuse reliever Jeff Mandel surrendered four straight singles to account for two Buffalo runs. Another Syracuse reliever – Collin Balester – gave up an RBI double to Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the seventh to account for the other run.

Maya, 28, defected from Cuba last year and was signed by the Nationals last month. The Washington Post reported the team signed Maya for $6 million. He finished with six strikeouts against the Bisons in fourth and two-thirds innings.

Maya does not speak English. At one point during the troublesome first inning, the Chiefs sent infielder Luis Ordaz to the mound for a conference with Maya. In addition to the balk and wild pitch, Maya walked two batters and struck out two batters without giving up a hit.

“There’s a lot more to it than just going out and pitching,” Jewett said of Maya. “There’s a lot of new things going on for him. I thought he did rather well.”